Couple's Dog Dies And They Use His DNA To Clone A New One

After the loss of their 8-year-old boxer, a British couple welcomes new puppies cloned from their dead dog's DNA.

Pets are so much more than just animals. They are often cherished as members of their owner's family, so when one couple's beloved 8-year-old boxer died from a brain tumor and cardiac arrest they just couldn't bear to let him go.

British couple Laura Jacques and Richard Remde had their deceased dog, Dylan, cloned by Sooam Biotech Research Foundation in South Korea.

“I had had Dylan since he was a puppy,” Jacques said. “I mothered him so much, he was my baby, my child, my entire world.”

Jacques and Remde reportedly took DNA samples from Dylan's corpse and sent them to Sooam. The couple named their new pup "Chance" after the character in the Disney film, Homeward Bound. They flew all the way to South Korea to witness his "birth."

This case of cloning is particularly remarkable because Dylan's DNA was extracted almost two weeks after he died. Prior to this procedure, the limit for dog cloning was five days after death.

“This is the first case we have had where cells have been taken from a dead dog after a very long time,” David Kim, a scientist at Sooam, said. “Hopefully it will allow us to extend the time after death that we can take cells for cloning.”

Although there are some ethical concerns and controversy surrounding the cloning of pets, there are no regulations against it as of yet. Another cloned puppy from Dylan's DNA, to be named Shadow, is expected to be born in a few days, according to Jezebel.